


Hustle and Heart Sets You Apart

by gm02



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Basketball, Basketball, Bisexual, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fluff, Slow Burn, Starcrossed Lovers, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2020-05-14 05:38:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19266913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gm02/pseuds/gm02
Summary: Karolina has been playing basketball all her life, and finds a basketball enemy in Nico. They compete against each other for years, and hatrid only grows. What happens when Nico moves to town?Basically a Deanoru basketball AU where they go from enemies to friends to lovers.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first fic, and I’m not the best writer, but I needed more Deanoru in my life, so I thought, why not? I’m open to any critiques and suggestions! Hope you enjoy! :) 
> 
> Also, sorry this first chapter is really short. I’ll hopefully make them longer in the future.

Karolina loves basketball. She loves the feeling of the ball in her palms when she dribbles. She loves the sensation of shooting the ball, especially when it goes in. She loves the adrenaline rush games give her. She loves all the intricate ways she can maneuver on the court. She loves how she can express her creativity within the sport. She loves the friendships she has been able to make and develop throughout the years. She loves how basketball can giver her a break from reality. When you’re playing basketball, every other thought seems to drift away.

Karolina lives and breathes basketball. 

Her mother, Leslie, played college basketball at UCLA, and later went on to play in the WNBA for the Los Angeles Sparks. When she discovered she was going to give birth to a beautiful little girl, she immediately bought a pair of baby Jordan basketball shoes and a toddler basketball hoop for her. Her dad, Frank, likes to joke that she came “dribbling out of the womb.” Frank also played basketball at UCLA. That is how he and Leslie met, and later fell in love. Basketball was in her blood, whether she liked it or not. 

A couple years after having Karolina, Leslie and Frank created a club team called Gibborum. Only the most elite players in the country could make a team. Leslie shaped her daughter early on to play basketball at a very high level just like she did. 

The idea of being a famous basketball player was engraved into her head from a young age. Leslie constantly coached her until she was old enough to join Gibborum. Leslie decided to take Karolina out of public school, and enlist her in an online school. To allow more time for training of course. 

The Dean family is the face of Gibborum basketball. Therefore, she cannot make any mistakes. Her parents made it very clear that any mistake could jeopardize their family image. This was a catalyst for their tense, and rather complicated relationship. 

Karolina was always the best player on her team. She would sometimes even play up a few grades. After the 10-year-old practices run by her mother were over, Karolina would stay at the gym and watch her father coach the 10-year-old boys team. One day, her dad asked her if she wanted to participate in the boys practices. That is how she met Chase and Alex. 

Chase and Alex pushed Karolina in ways her female opponents couldn’t. They were much taller, stronger, and faster. She would not be where she is today without them. 

A couple months later, Gert, and her little sister Molly joined the club. Gert was placed on Karolina’s team, and Molly was placed a few teams below them, only because she was younger. Molly was definitely strong enough to play up though.

As soon as Karolina introduced them to Chase and Alex, they all became inseparable. They were the best support group one could ever ask for. 

The Gibborum crew went to their first out-of-state tournament when they were 13. It happened to take place in Atlanta, Georgia. Which was home to the infamous club, Minoru’s Elite Basketball Academy (MEBA). MEBA is run by Tina and Robert Minoru, two of the best coaches in the country. 

On the flight to Atlanta, Leslie told Karolina about MEBA. She told her about Tina and Robert’s daughter, Nico. She was groomed to be a star, just like Karolina. Nico would be one of her toughest opponents at the tournament. Little did she know, she would still be her toughest opponent for years to come. 

Most of the games Gibborum played in the Atlanta tournament were easy wins. A few were closer than they would have liked, but they won nonetheless. 

They were one of the first seeds in the tournament bracket, and bested their opponents each round, and eventually made it to the championship. They were up against than none other, MEBA. 

During warm ups, Karolina was eyeing the other team. Specifically the intimidating black haired girl. Nico was sending death glares her way, so she knew this game would be a battle. 

The score was close the whole game. When Gibborum would score, MEBA would catch right back up. Karolina considered herself to be a pretty good defender, but there were times when Nico would just blow right past her and score. Whenever that happened, Karolina let the anger fuel her. She dribbled down the court, crossed over, and hit a step back three right in Nico’s face. They both played off of each other’s rage. 

Gibborum was down 1 point with 5 seconds remaining. Leslie called a timeout and drew up a play so Karolina could get the last shot. Karolina jabbed left, and then ran through an elevator screen. She caught the ball at the elbow, and shot a jumper. The ball glided through the air, and swished through the net. The buzzer sounded, and Gibborum won the championship. 

Karolina was jumping and cheering with her teammates. Whereas Nico was staring at them with a disappointed and angered look. If Nico could have just deflected that shot, they would have won the game. 

This was just the beginning of the Dean/Minoru rivalry.

——-

Nico and Karolina continued to play against each other in tournaments through the years. Each time they played each other, they would try to one up each other; always trying to prove their superiority over one another. 

Over the years, they built a rivalry of sorts, getting more and more intense each time they played each other. Their dislike for each other only increased. Each year they would try to rank higher than the other on the national rankings. One year Karlolina would be ahead, and Nico the next. This only fueled them to keep training, and keep getting better.

A few years later, they both began intensive training, so they could land some D1 scholarships. Karolina trained in Los Angeles, and Nico in Atlanta. Their stress levels increased exponentially, as well as their rivalry.


	2. Unexpected Vistor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karolina deals with her annoying mother, and Nico comes to LA. What’s the worst that could happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s chapter 2! As I said before, I’m not the best writer, but I tried. So hopefully you at least somewhat enjoy this haha :)
> 
> Also, I’m still trying to figure out how to make texting look good, so bear with me while I figure it out.

“Karolina, get up. Practice starts in less than an hour.” Leslie says with a hint of annoyance.

“But Mom, I practiced last night for 3 hours. Can’t I take a break? Says a groggy Karolina with her face snuggled into her blanket.

“Karolina, you know you can’t afford to take time off. You’ll fall behind if you do.”

“But I’m so exhausted. I worked so hard last night. My muscles ache and my brain is foggy. It’s 5 am! Can’t I take the day off?” Karolina pleaded.

“No Karolina. You cannot take the day off. No excuses. You better be at the gym warming up in 30 minutes or I will make you run suicides. Understood?

Karolina sighs, “Understood”.

Karolina’s relationship with her mother is rather complicated. Sometimes she feels like she’s more her coach than she is her mother. She is constantly pushing Karolina to her breaking point. Whether it be with complicated drills, or making her run until she collapses. Their relationship seems to be solely basketball nowadays. Karolina can’t even remember the last time her mother asked her how her day was, or if she was doing okay. All she seemed to care about was basketball. Karolina knows she only wants her to be her best, but sometimes she feels like she’s never enough for her mother. She always works her hardest and continues to improve, but no matter how hard she tries, it never seems to be enough.

Karolina heads to the Gibborum gym. Once she arrives she steps out of her car and grabs her basketball bag out of her trunk. She heads inside and goes to her usual court. She doesn’t turn on the lights because she likes to train in the natural light illuminating from the windows. It allows her to wake up with the rest of the world in a sense. Plus the lights are too bright in the morning.

She sits on a bench and puts on her basketball shoes. She gets her ball out, and puts her earbuds in. She stretches out, and she’s ready to go. She starts her practice with a complicated two ball dribbling warm up, and then form shooting. After she finishes her warm up, she takes a water break.

As she’s getting water, Leslie walks in with a commanding stride, “Why aren’t you warming up Karolina?”

“I just did. I did two ball dribbling and form shooting.” Karolina says as she walks towards her mother.

“How do I know you actually did it, and you’re not just lying to get out of it?” Leslie said with a questioning look.

Karolina rolls her eyes, “Mom I promise I did the warm up. Can I just start practicing?”

“I don’t believe you. Do the warm up again. 

“But mom-“  Leslie interrupts her before she can even finish her sentence, “Now Karolina.” 

And Karolina does the warm up for a second time that morning.

Once Karolina completes the warm up (again) her mom lets her go to the bench and get some water.

Leslie turns to Karolina, “Your father and I have a meeting later this morning, so I have to leave soon. But I printed out a workout for you.” She reaches into her coat pocket and hands Karolina a folded piece of paper. “I expect you to do this entire workout. It should take you about an hour or so.”

Karolina looks down at the paper, “This workout looks hard. I’m not sure if I can finish it that quickly.” She looks up at her mother.

“Then you’ll just have to work harder and run faster.” Leslie says carelessly.

“Mom I don’t think I can run to hell and back in an hour.” Karolina says with a chuckle.

Annoyed, Leslie says, “Just do it Karolina.”

“Fine. I’ll be home in a few hours.”

Leslie turns and heads to the front door, but Karolina hollers from across the gym, “Hey mom? Can I invite Gert to do the workout with me?”

Leslie yells back, “I want you to do the first half by yourself, but Gert can come for the second half.”

“Ok thanks. Bye mom.” Karolina yells as Leslie walks out the door without a care.

Karolina pulls out her phone.

**Karolina**

**Hey I’m at the gym. Wanna come workout with me?**

                  **Gert**

 **Omg Karolina it’s 5:30, and you’re**   **already at the gym?!**

**Karolina**

**Don’t blame me. Blame the she-devil**

  **Gert**

  **Your mom?**

 

**Karolina**

**Who else would I be talking about?**

 

**Karolina**

**Anyways, can you come?**

 

**Gert**

**Fine. I’ll be there in 30**

 

**Karolina**

**Yayyyyyy you’re the best**

 

**Gert**

**I know**

 

And with that, Karolina sets her phone down and starts her workout.

 

———

(Nico’s perspective)

 

Nico’s flight landed late last night. She was hoping that she could sleep on the plane, but her brain wouldn’t let her. She couldn’t stop thinking about her sister.

Nico and Amy were very close. They trusted each other more than they trusted their parents. That’s why Amy decided to change her emergency contact to Nico instead of her parents.

_As soon as Nico got the call that Amy was in a car accident, she headed straight to the hospital. On the way there, she immediately called her parents._

_“Mom, Dad, you need to come to the hospital right now.” Nico said frantically._

_Through the phone came a muffled response from Tina “Why? What happened? Are you ok?”_  

_“I’m fine. It’s Am-“_

_“Honey your father and I are in an important meeting right now, can this wait?”_

_Nico, barely even to contain her anger yells, No! This cannot wai-“_

_“Ok text me later” and Tina hung up._

_When Nico got to the hospital, the doctors informed her about her sister's condition. She had several broken bones and internal bleeding. Her chance for survival was very slim._

_She would need surgery soon, but the doctors allowed a sobbing and devastated Nico to go talk with her sister for potentially the last time._

_Nico rushes into the room and to her sisters side, and holds her hand, “Amy it’s going to be okay, you’re going to be okay.”_

_“Hey Nico. How are you?” Amy breathes out._  

_“How am I?! You were just in a car crash and you’re asking how I’m doing?!”_

_Amy lets out a little chuckle, “I’m fine Nico. Where’s mom and dad.”_  

_Nico stares at the ceiling, hardly able to contain her tears, “they’re not coming.”_

_“Oh.”_

_“But I’m here for you. I’ll always be here for you.” A tear slips away from her eyes._

_Amy reaches up and wipes the tear away from her little sister’s cheek, “I love you so much. I don’t know what I would do without you.”_

_“I love you too” Nico says with a sob._

_The doctor walks in and looks down at the sisters._

_“We need to prep her for surgery. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”_

Little did she know that there would be complications during surgery, and it would be the last time she saw Amy.

When her parents learned that Amy had passed, they were devastated. Nico needed her parents love and support more than ever, but instead of being there for Nico, they shoved themselves into work. They added more teams to MEBA to keep them busy. Therefore they had little time for Nico. Whenever Nico felt alone and depressed, which was often, she went to the gym and practiced.

It has been 6 months since Amy’s passing. Nico just couldn’t stand being alone anymore. She needed a change of scenery, and wanted to get away from her parents. So she hopped on a plane to Los Angeles to stay with her friend Alex Wilder. She left a note for her parents on the odd chance they actually cared about her whereabouts.  

 

\---

 

When Nico arrived at the airport, Alex was there to pick her up. She greeted him with an intense hug.

Nico and Alex met at a tournament in Chicago a few years back. Alex was watching one of Nico’s games while he was waiting for his game. After the game, Alex came up to Nico, and told her how phenomenal she was on the court. He offered to take her to dinner after his game, and the rest was history.

Alex and Nico became very close. They would always make time to hangout whenever they had a tournament in the same area. When they weren’t at tournaments, they stayed close by face timing and texting each other. It was hard to tell whether they were just best friends, or a little bit more than that.

So when Nico knew she wanted to leave, she knew just where she wanted to go.

“You ready to go?” Alex asked.

“Yeah I need some sleep” Nico said with a yawn.

They headed back to Alex’s house. When they got there, Alex showed Nico to her new room. Alex knew her so well. The room had many black features.

Nico turns to Alex, “Alex… you really didn’t have to go all out for this. I’d honestly be just fine sleeping on the couch.”

“Well I want to make sure you feel at home. You know I would do anything to make you happy.” Alex said with a little grin.

“Thank you Alex. You don’t know how much I appreciate this.”

Alex brought her into a hug, “You need some sleep Nico. I’ll see you in the morning?”

Nico stepped back, “Of course, but I was wondering if there are any gyms around here? I kinda want to go practice tomorrow morning to clear my head.”

“Oh for sure. You can borrow my key to the Gibborum gym if you want.”

“That would be awesome. How far away is it?

“About 15 minutes away. You can take my car if you want.”

“You’re a life-saver. Thanks Alex. For everything.”

He smiles while walking out the door, “You’d do the same for me.”  
  


\---

 

Nico wakes up to her 5:30 alarm. She changes into black joggers and a white t-shirt, and heads downstairs to make some breakfast. She decides to just have something quick, so she grabs some Lucky Charms from the cupboard, and milk from the fridge. Once she finishes, she grabs her basketball bag, Alex’s car key, and the key to Gibborum.

She hops in the car, plugs in her phone, and puts on when the party’s over by Billie Eilish.

She’s glad she woke up early. Surely nobody would be there at 6:00 in the morning. Basketball allows her to just focus on the ball and the hoop, and nothing else. It provides her with a distraction from reality.

She pulls up to the parking lot and notices a car there. She’ll just have to practice on a different court. She pushes the front door open and walks in. The gym is much bigger than she imagined. It has multiple courts, a weight lifting area, and a little lounge. The MEBA gym was definitely not this nice.

There’s a divider that splits the courts into sections. She can hear dribbling from one side, so she heads to the opposite corner of the complex. Luckily the other person there didn’t notice her.

She puts in her earbuds, laces up her shoes, and grabs her ball. She begins stretching and warming up. Then she starts her workout.

 

\---

 

Gert pulls up to Gibborum, and hops out and heads to Karolina’s usual court.

She makes herself known by yelling, “Yo Karolina, ya girls here!”

Karolina heard the hollar through her music, and headed over to Gert. 

“Hey Gert. Glad you could make it.”

Annoyed, “I almost didn’t. If I hadn't woken up to my dog barking at 5, I wouldn’t have come.” Gert grabs Karolina’s shoulder, “you should consider yourself lucky.”

“Wow I can just feel the love radiating off of you right now” Karolina said while placing a hand on Gert’s shoulder.

“Oh shut up. Let’s just do this workout.”

“Ok so first…-“

Gert gives Karolina a strange look, “Wait Karolina, who else is here?”

Karolina turns her head and looks around, “umm just us Gert.”

“No listen.”

Karolina takes out her earbuds, and sure enough they could both hear someone dribbling a basketball in the distance.

“Who else is here?”

“If I knew Gert, I’d tell you.”

“Well there’s one way to find out” Gert heads over to the separation in the dividers.

Karolina catches up with Gert, and they peak through the divider gap. They see a slim black haired girl with her hair up in a bun.

“Karolina, who’s that?”

“I have no idea, wait for her to turn around.”

A few moments later the raven haired girl goes and rebounds her shot that hit the back of the rim and flew towards half court.

Karolina turns to Gert, “Is that…Nico Minoru”

Gert glares at Karolina, “What the hell is she doing here?!”

“The hell do I know!” Karolina exclaims in a loud whisper.

Nico is about to turn their direction, so they both frantically duck behind the divider.

Gert whispers to Karolina, “What are we supposed to do?”

“I have no idea” Karolina turns to look through the small gap again, “It’s not like she’d come over here right?”

“I hope not. Let’s just finish the workout real quick.” Gert says as she walks back to their basket.

 

—-

 

When Nico takes a water break, she hears some muffled voices. Great, more people she’d have to avoid.

Her curiosity takes over, and wonders who else on Earth would be here this early. She walks over to the divider and takes a peak. There stands a tall, slim, muscular girl with her blonde hair in a braid. She can’t help but appreciate her physique. Nico waits for the blonde to turn around. Sure enough it’s none other than Miss Gibborim herself, Karolina Dean.

Nico thinks to herself, _what the hell is Karolina doing here this early?_ Her thoughts were interrupted by a yelling purple haired girl.

“Why do you get up this early to workout? Can’t you do the drills later?” 

Karolina hollars back at the purple haired girl, “Trust me Gert, I would much rather be cuddled up in my bed sleeping, but I’ve learned that it’s best to follow the training schedule my mom gives me.”

“Girly you need a break.”

“Tell me about it.” Karolina grumbles as she walks to the free throw line to finish out her workout.

Nico heads back to her bench to pack up her stuff and sneakily head out. The last thing she needs is to run into Karolina Dean.

 

—-

 

Gert picks up her keys and turns to Karolina, “Hey, I’m gonna go grab some food from my car. You want anything?”

“Ummm do you have anything healthy?” Karolina says with her eyebrow raised. 

“Hate to break it to ya, but not everyone is a health nut. I actually try to avoid gross foods like kale. Unlike you. Gert starts heading towards the door, “I might have a banana if you want one.”

“Kale is soooo good Gert. You should try it sometime.” 

“Why would I want to eat that evil green thing.” Gert turns back towards Karolina as she’s about to open the door, “Do you want a banana or not?”

Karolina ponders for a moment, “It’s not kale, but it’ll have to do.”

“Weirdo.”

 

—-

 

When Gert steps outside she looks at the cars in the parking lot. She sees her car, Karolina’s car, and… Alex’s car? Why would Alex’s car be here?

Wait how did Nico get here?

Gert goes and grabs herself a snack, and Karolina’s stupid banana. She heads back inside.

“Hey, is Alex here? His car is out front.”

Karolina turns to Gert, “Not that I know of.”

“Also, how did Nico even get here?” Gert says with a curious look.

“Well I’m sure she flew here. LA is a long drive from Atlanta.”

Gert facepalms her forehead, “No shit Sherlock. I mean how did she get to the gym.” Gerts eyes get big, “Oh my gosh, did she steal Alex’s car?!”

“Oh my gosh, that bitch would!” Karolina whips out her phone, and calls Alex.

After a few rings he picks up.

“What’s up Karolina?”

“Alex this is going to sound really weird, but I think Nico Minoru stole your car.”

He chuckles through the phone, “No she didn’t. I let her borrow it.”

“What do you mean you let her borrow it?!

“Well she asked me if there was a gym around here last night, so I told her she could take my car to the Gibborim gym.”

Gert grabs Karolina’s phone, “Why were you talking to her last night.? It’s not like you guys are friends.”

“Well um we are kinda friends, and she’s kinda crashing at my place for awhile.”

Gert yells into the phone, “WHAT?! WHY DIDN’T TELL US?!”

“Because I knew you’d react like this.”

“ALEX YOU LITTLE SHI-“ 

Alex hung up the phone.

Gert turns to Karolina, “Want to slap him with me the next time we see him?”

“Hundred percent.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. An Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m not very good an summaries, but basically they both see each other at the gym and get jealous. Nico gets an invitation, and she stupidly accepts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I’m sorry I haven’t posted in awhile, I’ve been pretty busy. I’ll be going out of town for a little while in a couple days for a tournament, but I will try and update as soon as possible.

When Nico gets back to Alex’s house, she grabs an apple, heads upstairs and plops on her bed. She opens up her laptop to look for something to watch on Netflix. She ends up just watching a random episode of Friends like usual. When she’s about halfway through the episode there’s a knock at the door. 

Alex opens the door and walks in. “Hey how was the gym?”

“It was good. I wasn’t the only one there surprisingly.” 

“Oh really?”

“You’ll never guess who else was there.”

Alex pretends to think by looking up at the ceiling and scratching his chin. “Hmmm Karolina Dean?”

Shocked, Nico looks at Alex, “Woah how’d you know?”

“Well first of all, she’s there every morning.”

Nico looks at him with a raised eyebrow. “Every morning?” 

“Since she was a kid.”

“That explains why she’s so good…” All those early morning workouts have certainly paid off. Karolina was one of the best players she’s ever faced.

“Second of all, she called me earlier this morning.” 

“What? Why would she call?”

“Well she and Gert saw my car in the parking lot, and you were the only other person there. So... they thought you stole my car.” Alex said with a chuckle. 

“What idiots.” Of course they thought she stole it. They just assumed that Nico was that horrible of a person. She had a realization. “Wait, so Karolina saw me there?” 

“I mean, why else would she say “I think Nico Minoru stole your car.” Alex says with a shrug. 

Nico looked up at Alex, “What’d you tell them?”

“Well I told them that we’re friends, and that I let you borrow it, and that you’re crashing at my place.” 

“Did they not know we were friends?”

“Oh hell no. I didn’t want them to react like you did a few years back when I told you I was friends with Karolina.” 

“Oh come on Alex, it wasn’t that bad.” Nico said as she rolled her eyes. 

“Nico, you threw a basketball at my face and gave me a bloody nose.”

“But you’re still alive so…”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Basically they started yelling at me and I just hung up.”

“Smart move. Karolina can be a bitch.” 

Alex sighed. “She’s really not that bad Nico. If she was, I wouldn’t be friends with her.”

“I beg to disagree, but whatever.” How could one not hate her? That’s why Alex confused her. What on earth did he see in her? Nico took a bite of her apple. “So does this mean Karolina will be there tomorrow morning?”

“Yep. 6 am every morning.” 

“Great… hopefully I don’t run into her tomorrow.”

“Who knows.” 

After a few seconds of silence, Alex plopped down next to Nico on her bed. “So whatcha wanna do today?”

Nico turns to him with a hopeful glance, “Friends marathon?” Friends has been one of her favorite tv shows for as long as she can remember. She used to watch it all the time with Amy, so whenever she watches it, it sort of makes her feel like she was with her in a sense. 

He groans, “Fineee.”

 

—-

 

When Karolina gets home, the aroma of pancakes, eggs, and bacon fills the air. After a practice or workout, Frank always seems to make her feel better. Every morning after Karolina gets home, Frank has breakfast with her. Sometimes, he even makes breakfast for them, like today. It has sort of been their routine since she was little. This time of day is when Karolina can get things off her chest. Her dad, well, technically stepdad is her main emotional support. Leslie is normally too busy, and her biological father, Jonah was never in the picture. She was fortunate that Frank stuck around even after he learned about the momentary affair Leslie had when they were in college. So Karolina is very lucky to have him in her life. 

Karolina pulls out a chair and sits at the counter. “Hey dad.”

“Hey Kar. How was the gym?” He says as he hands Karolina a plate of food.

She takes a bite out of an apple. “It was good. Gert came and did the second half with me.”

“Oh that’s nice of her.”

Karolina slaps her hands down on the counter with wide eyes. “You’ll never guess who else was there.” 

“Who?” He says as he flips a pancake.

“Nico Minoru.”

“Why the heck would Nico be at Gibborum? He sets down the pan and turns around. “Let alone LA. It’s not like there’s any tournaments here right now.”

“Exactly. Apparently she’s staying with Alex.”

“I didn’t know Alex was friends with her.”

“Yeah me neither.” Karolina said with a scoff. She can’t believe he would hide this from all of them. Why would he even want to be friends with her in the first place?

“So why is she here?”

“I have no idea.”

After a moment of silence, Frank turns to Karolina. “I have boys practices to coach all day today, but I’ll see you after your workout tomorrow morning ok?”

“Sure. See ya dad.”

As he’s about to walk out the door he turns around. “Oh and Kar? You have team practice tonight at 7.”

Karolina sighs, “Lovely. Bye dad.”

And with that, Karolina was alone again, waiting for her next practice. 

 

—-

 

Karolina’s alarm goes off at 5:30 am everyday. Well almost everyday. Once in a blue moon her mom lets her sleep in, but today was not one of those days. Karolina never wants to get up early, but she’s been getting up so early for the last few years, she doesn’t even know if she can physically sleep in any more. It’s basically become normal to wake up that early. So when her alarm goes off again this morning at 5:30, she just rolls out of bed and follows her morning routine.  

Karolina’s morning routine has been the same since she was a kid. First she goes upstairs and grabs some fruit. She’ll look through her phone while eating. Multitasking is important, otherwise she’d have to get up even earlier than she already does. Once she finishes, she heads back downstairs to her room to change into some workout clothes. If she has enough time, she’ll get back in bed for a few minutes. The last thing she has to do is get her basketball bag ready, and fill up her water bottle. Then she’s ready to hit the gym. 

As she’s about to grab her keys, she sees a piece of paper on the counter top. It reads, “Karolina, check your email for your workout. - Mom”

Of course Leslie has a workout for her. She always has a workout for Karolina. When doesn’t she have something for her to do? Karolina sometimes wishes she could just go to the gym and just do her own thing. Maybe work on the things she actually wants to work on. But no, it's always planned out for her. Karolina has to give props to her mom though, at least she’s consistent. 

When Karolina arrives at Gibborim she pulls out her phone and checks her email. The workout her mother sent her consists of some of the drills Karolina hates most, as well as a weight lifting workout. At least she’s getting better right? 

Karolina decides to krank out her drills first. Those take her about an hour. The second half of her workout is in the weightroom. So she takes off her basketball shoes and changes into some tennis shoes, then heads to the weightroom.

 

\---

 

When Nico wakes up that morning she just grabs a random pair of black running shorts and a black sweatshirt to put on. Then she grabs an apple, and is out the door. 

Nico really hopes she doesn’t run into Karolina. She doesn’t need to have that additional stress in her life right now. Hopefully they both just keep their distance, and all will be well. 

Nico pulls up to Gibborim, and sees the same car she saw yesterday. She can only assume it’s Karolina’s. She rolls her eyes.  Of course she drove a white Jeep. It just screams Karolina Dean. 

Nico pushes open the front door and walks in. She can’t hear dribbling, so she hopes for the best by going to the same court she went to yesterday.

When she walks past the weight room, a blur of motion catches her eye. She steps back to glance through the window. There stands a toned Karolina doing deadlifts. Thank god she was facing the other direction, or else she would of seen a slightly pink-cheeked Nico staring at her.

When Nico finally decided to walk to her court she couldn’t help but think to herself that Karolina is an amazing player, she’s very dedicated, and her whole body is flawless. Then there’s me who ditched home, and looks like they just rolled out of bed. This made her hate Karolina just a little bit more. Which surprised her, because she didn’t realize she still had more room for hate in the Karolina department.

Once she got to her court, she put on her shoes, grabbed her ball, and hit the court. 

 

—-

 

After finishing her last set of pull ups, Karolina decided to do some cooldown stretches. When she was stretching she couldn’t help but notice the small black-haired girl through the weightroom window doing sprints up and down the court off in the distance. Now she understood why Nico was so fast. Karolina knew exactly what she was going to be working on tomorrow. 

Karolina packed up her stuff, stole one last glance at Nico, and headed to her car.

 

\---

 

Nico didn’t notice Karolina leave, but she was glad she was alone. She just hoped Karolina didn’t watch her too much. She doesn’t need judgement, especially from one of her main competitors.

She packed up her stuff, and headed back to Alex’s house. 

When she got back, she was greeted by Mrs. Wilder. 

“Oh hi Nico.”

“Oh uh hi Mrs. Wilder.”

“Oh please Nico, you can call me Catherine.” She said with a smile.

“Ok. Uh Mrs. W- Catherine” She begins as she walks further into the house. “I just wanted to thank you for letting me stay here for a little while. I’m sorry if I’ve caused you any trouble.”

“Nico you are always welcome here. There’s no need to apologize.”

“You don’t realize how much I appreciate this. Thank you.”

She pulls Nico into a hug. A few seconds later she steps away. “Now go have fun. I think Alex is upstairs in his room playing video games.”

“Ok. Thanks.” Nico says with a smile as she heads upstairs.

When Nico reaches the top of the stairs, she knocks on Alex’s door. 

A moment later she hears an annoyed Alex through the door. “Mom I will do my laundry later ok?”

Nico muffles a laugh. “It’s just me Alex.”

“Oh.” He opens up the door. “Sorry about that.” He goes and sits on his desk chair.

She chuckles. “It’s all good.” She flops down on his bed. “So what game are ya playin?”

“Just some super hero one. How was the gym?”

“It was good. I worked on sprints.”

Alex makes a disgusted face. “Why on earth would you want to work on sprints.”

“They’re um fun.” Running has always been one of her favorite things. Most people hate it, but she loves it. She normally goes on runs in the forest near her house. It allows her to just take in nature and appreciate its beauty. Since she’s in LA, and doesn’t know any good spots, she just runs in the gym. 

“Excuse me? Who are you and what have you done with Nico? He spins around in his chair. “How could somebody actually enjoy them.” 

“I don’t know, they’re just fun. They make me feel free.”

“Ok fine weirdo. Was Karolina there?”

“Yeah.”

“Was Leslie there?”

“No…?” Nico says with a hint of curiosity.

Alex sighs with relief. “That’s good. She’d probably kill you if she knew you were there.”

“How come? Nico says with a confused look. 

“You do realize that practically all of Gibborim hates you right.”

“Ah yes. Leslie would lose her shit. I kinda want to see that happen though.” 

“Trust me. You don’t. Angry Leslie is not a fun Leslie.” He scoffs, “who am I kidding, every form of Leslie sucks.”

“That’s probably why Karolina sucks too. Runs in the family.”

Alex rolls his eyes. “Believe it or not Nico, but Leslie is the only sucky Dean. Her and Karolina don’t really even get along anymore .” 

“Wait you’re telling me that there’s trouble in paradise between the Dean girls?” Nico says as she raises an eyebrow.

“Let’s just put it this way. Karolina is a happy little ray of sunshine, and Leslie is a thundercloud.”

“Karolina? A little ray of sunshine? I don’t think so.”

“Just give her a chance Nico.” 

A couple moments of silence pass.

“Oh I have an idea.” Alex says with a hint of excitement. “How about you come to game night at Karolina’s on Friday?”

“Umm I don’t think that would be a good idea…” Says a surprised Nico.

“Why not?”

“As you mentioned, they all hate me. Plus I don’t know if I could handle being in the same room as Karolina. I might start throwing fists.”

“Oh my gosh, c’mon Nico. You’ve been in the same gym as her! Maybe you can give them reasons to not hate you. I mean I like you, and they like me, so nothing’s impossible.”

“I don’t know Alex. I might not leave with all my limbs intact.” Nico said nervously. 

“I’ll give you $20 and I’ll do another Friends marathon with you.” 

“$30 and you have a deal.” She reaches out her hand. 

He pulls $30 out of his wallet and shakes her hand firmly. “Deal.”

What did Nico just get herself into?

 

—-

 

Karolina feels a buzz in her pocket. She got a message from Alex in the Runaways group chat.  They came up with the name a few years back when they all decided to runaway from their homes to hangout. They all got grounded, but it was definitely a highlight of their childhoods. 

 

**Alex**

Hey. Ik you guys might hate me after this, but I sorta invited Nico to game night this Friday...

 

**Chase**

Wait. Nico, as in Nico Minoru?

 

**Gert**

You did what?!!!

 

**Alex**

Yes Chase

**Karolina**

Why would you do that?!

**Alex**

Guys idk how long she’ll be here, and she’s going through some rough times. She could use some friends.

 

**Chase**

Idk man…

**Karolina**

You know we don’t get along Alex

**Gert**

We hate each other’s guts 

 

**Alex**

Please. Do it as a favor for me? If it doesn’t go well, I won’t invite her again. 

**Karolina**

1 time. That’s it. Sound good?

**Chase**

Fine 

 

**Gert**

Fine

 

**Alex**

Ok great. See you guys Friday 

 

**Gert**

K

 

* _ 2 hours later* _

 

**Molly**

Wait who’s Nico Minoru?

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I was wondering how long of chapters you guys are looking for. Let me know in the comments below! Also, I’m not a very experienced writer, so I was wondering if anybody would want to co write with me? Or maybe just bounce ideas off with each other. Let me know! Thanks!


	4. Game Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico goes to game night, games are played, and a little fight breaks out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I’m currently out of town for a tournament, so my free time is pretty much during the night. I was able to mostly finish this chapter before I left on Thursday, and with the help from Molly I was able to finish it. Thanks Molly, you’re awesome! Anywhooo, I’ve started chapter 5, but I don’t have too much time to work on it at the moment. Hopefully I can get it out shortly after I get home on the 13th! Thanks once again! Enjoy!

The next few days passed like every other day. The two girls were at the gym at the same time, but never shared more than a glance. 

When Friday morning rolled around, Nico was nervous. It was weird to think that she’d be hanging out with a group of people that hated her. Especially the blonde girl on the other side of the gym. What had she gotten herself into.

When she got back to Alex’s, he had made lunch for them. 

“Hey Nico. How was the gym?”

“Same as always.”

He hands a sandwich to Nico. “So, you ready for tonight?”

“Yeah I’m soooo ready. It’s not like I’m walking into a room of people that hate me or anything.” 

“Nico, you’ll be fine. Just be yourself.”

“Yeah yeah whatever.” Nico says with an eye roll.

After finishing her sandwich, Nico stands up from her chair. “I’m gonna go get ready.”

“Ok.”

And with that Nico heads upstairs to her room. 

She opens her door and lays down on her bed. She hasn’t been to a game night since Amy passed. It was their family’s thing, game night every Sunday night. They would play games like Monopoly, Clue, 5 card draw, gin rummy, Sorry, and Amy’s favorite, Charades. When she and Nico were on a team, they were unstoppable. Both their acting and guessing skills were quite impressive. Since Amy had passed, Sunday’s haven’t been the same. To be honest, their family hasn’t been the same.

If Alex had known this, he probably wouldn’t of asked her to come, but Nico agreed, and she’s not one to back out last minute. With that, she hopped in the shower to calm her thoughts.

She put on a pair of black ripped jeans, a white t-shirt that she tucked into her jeans, a thin gold chain necklace, and her black and white vans. Then she put on black lipstick and put her hair up in a messy bun.

She headed down stairs and saw Alex sitting at the counter.

He stood up. “You look nice.”

“Uh thanks. So do you.”

“You ready to go?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Alex grabbed his keys, and they were off to Karolina’s.

 

\---

The car ride was silent. All Nico could think about was Amy. Hopefully once they got there those thoughts would drift away.

When they pulled up to Karolina’s house Nico was in awe. She didn’t expect her house to be this big. She expected it to be big, but not this big. It was very white and modern, unlike her traditional house back home. There were multiple cars parked outside, so she assumed they were the last to arrive. Alex parked the car and turned to Nico. “Just be yourself.”

Nico nodded nervously. 

The next thing she knew, Alex was knocking on the door. They heard a muffled “come in” from the inside. Alex and Nico stepped in and walked toward the living room. Nico’s heart was pounding.

Once they turned the corner, numerous people were saying “Hey Alex.”

“Hey guys.” He turned to Nico and smiled. “This is Nico.”

Nico managed to squeak out a quiet “Hi.”

Alex starts pointing to each of them, starting with the two on the floor. He points to the muscular brown haired boy, “That’s Chase.” He waves. Then he points to the purple haired girl, who Nico recognized as Gert. “That’s Gert.” Then he moves on to the couch where a girl with the curly brown hair sits. “That’s Mo-“ before he could even finish she stands up and walks over to Nico. She enthusiastically sticks out her hand. “I’m Molly.”

Nico shakes her hand and smiles “Hi Molly.”

“I like your outfit!” Molly says with a bright smile.

“Oh uh thanks.” 

I guess one of them didn’t totally hate her, so that’s a good sign. 

Alex turns to Nico. “Molly is Gert’s little sister.”

“Unfortunately.” Molly says as she heads back to the couch. They all laugh.

And then Alex points to the quiet blonde girl in a hoodie and blue ripped jeans sitting on the end of the couch. “And that’s Karolina.” 

They make eye contact for half a second. That's the most contact she’s had with Karolina since she got to LA. 

It was weird seeing all of them in clothes other than their jerseys. She was so used to just playing against them. It was odd to see them in their everyday lives.

Alex takes Nico’s hand and leads them to the couch. Luckily she’s on an end. This gathering doesn’t need to get more awkward than it already is. 

“So what game are we playing first?” Alex asks with a smile. 

Chase stands up and opens the closet door. He looks through the games for a minute or so. “How about Clue?” 

“I call dibs on Miss Scarlet!” Molly says excitedly.

Nico is a pro at Clue. She could normally figure out who, and what the weapon is within a few turns. The room was a little harder to figure out, but she has strategies. But they didn’t need to know that, so she just kept to herself.

The others talked pretty freely with each other. Karolina was oddly quiet, but maybe it was because her enemy was 5 feet away from her. Nonetheless, she could tell they were all rather close. Nico only talked when it was her turn, otherwise she just listened to the others conversations.

After a few turns, Nico found herself just outside the lounge. She knew she was about to win. She even considered purposely losing, but her competitive shoved that thought out of her head. Hopefully they wouldn’t be too mad. 

She moved her piece into the lounge. “Lounge, Mr. Green, with the candlestick.”

Nobody could prove her wrong, so Chase grabbed the cards in the envelope. “Lounge, Mr. Green, candlestick.”

Molly turns to her, “Woah! How’d you get it so fast!”

Nico shrugs. “I’m just a good guesser I guess.” That was a lie. She had years of experience, but they didn’t need to know that. 

“Ok, someone else go pick a game.” Chase says while pointing towards the closet. 

Gert stands up and looks around. She pulls out Apples to Apples.

Alex smiles. “Yessss I love this game.” 

Nico has played it a few times, but she isn’t too experienced, so she doesn’t expect to win. This was more of a personal choice game instead of a logic game. 

One round Karolina was the judge, and the topic was “thrilling”. Nico put in her card that read “skydiving”. Amy had signed them up for skydiving a few years back as a present to Nico for her birthday. It was definitely one of her most thrilling experiences.

Karolina surprisingly chose her card. 

Molly turned to Nico. “Have you been skydiving before?”

“A few years back. It was hella scary, but I’d definitely do it again.”

“Woah that’s so cool!”

Nico smiles. She kinda liked this Molly girl.

Karolina looked surprised. Almost as if she didn’t think the small girl had it in her to be that adventurous.

After a little while, they all counted their cards. Alex ended up winning, and Nico came in 3rd. 

After Apples to Apples they all just sat around talking and eating the snacks on the table. Nico was just observing the conversation, listening to Gert giving them a lecture on equality and reusable straws. Nico almost brought up her reusable bags she uses for produce at the grocery store, but she thought it was best to keep After a dead spot in the conversation, Molly speaks up. “So Nico, what brings you to LA?”

“Oh um just visiting Alex.” Nico says unconfidently. 

Karolina raised a brow. She could sense that that wasn’t completely true.

Gert then responds, “So how long are you planning on staying here?”

“I- I’m not sure.” 

Alex steps in, “She can stay as long as she wants to stay.”

“Thanks Alex.”

Karolina didn’t want to push it too far, but she wanted to test the waters. “So I take it MEBA is on a break?”

Nico was shocked that Karolina addressed her individually. That was the first time all night. “Something like that.” She manages to say. It’s more like she’s taking a break from MEBA.

Karolina grows a little more suspicious, but just leaves it that.

After a few moments Karolina decides to pick a game to change the subject. “How about charades?”

There were a bunch of excited squeals, but Nico’s mouth went dry. She could feel the tears brimming in her eyes.. She stood up, “I’m gonna go get some fresh air. You can play without me.”

Karolina thought to herself,  _ did I do something wrong? Or is Nico just being an ass?  _ Before she could finish her thoughts, Alex interrupted. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

When Nico started to walk towards the front door, she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. She looked to see who was calling her, and it was her mother. Of course she decided to call right now of all times. She sighs and hits the accept button. 

“Hello.”

“Nico where have you been!” Tina yelled through the phone.

“I’ve been gone for days, and now you notice im gone?”

“That’s beside the point! Where are you!”

“LA.”

“LA?! You better get back here in the next two days, or you’re going to miss our next tournament!”

Nico opened the front door and sat on the porch. She tried to explain why she wasn’t coming back soon for the next 10 minutes.

 

—-

Karolina kept wondering what she had done to cause a reaction like that from Nico. Maybe she did just need some air, but c'mon let’s be real. Who actually says “I need fresh air”. That’s always an excuse for something else.

After a couple rounds of Charades, Nico had yet to return. Maybe she was just walking around the house. If that was the case, she didn’t want Nico to snoop around her stuff. So she stood up and announced that she needed to go to the bathroom, even though she didn’t actually need to go. 

She started to search every room. Luckily she wasn’t in any of them, so that probably meant she was actually outside. When she started nearing the front door she heard some muffled yelling. Who would she be yelling at? Her rude neighbor, Jim, normally doesn’t come outside this late at night. Then she realized she was probably on the phone. Would it be bad to listen in for a second? It was none of her business, so she went to turn around but right as she did she heard “Mom you can't just pretend nothing happened! We need to get through this as a family, but no, you just abandoned me when I needed you the most.” 

So that’s why Nico is here. Family issues. Boy can Karolina relate to that.

A few moments later there was silence, and Nico opened the door and caught Karolina in her tracks.

“Uh hi Karolina.”

“Hey.”

“What are ya doin?”

“I uh just needed to grab my um charger from my car.”

“Okay… how much of that did you hear” Nico says as she gestures towards the front door.

“Honestly just the end.” Karolina says as she runs her hand over her hair. “I’m sorry.”

Of course Karolina had to hear that. Of all people. 

“Why are you sorry. It’s not like you did it on purpose.”

“No, I- I just know what it’s like to deal with a shitty family. It can be rough”

“You do? I find that very hard to believe.” Nico says as she rolls her eyes. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Karolina says in a semi-sassy tone.

“Well… you kinda have one of the best coaches in the nation. Your parents are basically famous, you have a nice house, and a nice car. It’s just hard to believe you’ve had it “rough”.”

“Just because they’re successful, doesn’t mean they’re good parents. Karolina said angrily. “You don’t know me at all, so don’t pretend like you do.”

“Well you act like you’re doin just fine.” Nico says with a huff. “So sue me for assuming.”

Karolina takes a step towards Nico. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to be me? No. No you don’t.” 

“Well at least your parents actually care about you!” Nico practically yelled.

Right as Karolina was about to fire back, her friends rounded to corner.

Alex looks back and forth between the two girls. “What’s going on here?”

Nico glares at him. “Nothing. Let’s go.” She grabs her things and storms off to the car.

“Oh um ok. Bye guys.”

There were a few timid “byes” echoed back as Alex grabbed his things. 

As Alex was about to close the door, he turns to Karolina. “Sorry.” Then he closes the door.

When the rest of the gang left, Karolina stormed up to her room. 

How dare Nico just assume things about her. She knew nothing! After tonight, she was able to add another thing she hates about Nico to her list. 

She decided to take a cold shower to clear her thoughts. She immediately went to bed. Hopefully basketball would clear her head in the morning.

  
  


—-

When Alex gets in and closes the door, he turns to Nico and waits expectantly for an explanation. 

“Karolina is an asshole. I never should have come. I knew this would happen.”

He starts the car and pulls away from the large white house.

Nico then continues her rant. “She thinks she has it sooo rough. But she doesn’t. Hundreds of people would kill to be her. She claims that I don’t know her. I've known her for years! I constantly see articles about her and magazines with her face plastered all over them; and she acts like I don’t know her at all!”

Alex sighs. “Are you done?”

Nico takes a deep breath. “For now.”

“Nico, you see all the good parts of her life. All her achievements and awards. What you don’t see is the all the hardships she’s gone through. You can’t see who she is outside of basketball. You can’t see who she really is on the inside.” He shakes his head. “That stuff you can’t get from an article or magazine.”

Nico scoffs. “I doubt her life has been that bad. And I don’t need to read about her to see that she’s a bitch.”

“Did you know that one time in elementary school, before her mom pulled her out for online school, she punched a kid.”

“Oh so she’s always been a bitch.”

“Do you know why she punched him? She punched him because he was bullying me for needing glasses.” He glances at Nico. “Karolina is one of the most loyal and caring people I know. I guarantee you can’t read that in any of the articles about her.”

Nico was silent. Then she hesitates before opening her mouth again. “Still doesn’t give her any right to be a bitch tonight.”

“You’re right. That is her fault. But it’s also yours.”

The rest of the car ride home was quiet. It allowed Nico to figure out her thoughts, and internalize. She may not know everything about Karolina, but Karolina sure as hell doesn’t know everything about her.

When they got back to Alex’s, she went straight to bed. She set an alarm for 5 am. She decided she would need a long hard workout to get this evening out of her head. Hopefully Karolina didn’t have the nerve to show up. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things have to get worse before they can get better. Right? Hope you enjoyed! :)


	5. A Possible Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A possible friend for Nico stops by, and broody Karolina and Nico.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t want to make up some lame excuse, but long story short, I’ve been busy and life is hard haha. Hope you enjoy!

They both worked out religiously for the next week or so. More than one would deem healthy. 

Karolina would run around the track upstairs for what seemed like hours, and Nico would lift like a maniac. She would do full arm, leg, and core workouts. They would wake up sore everyday. Each day worse than the last. 

One day when Nico got back to Alex’s, she saw a curly haired girl standing at the door. 

When she got closer, she realized it was Molly. “Oh uh hey Molly.”

She turned around. “Hi Nico!”

“Alex isn’t home right now. I think he went on a run.”

“Oh I wasn’t looking for Alex.”

“Well Mr. and Mrs. Wilder are at a meeting, so I hate to break if to ya, but you’re out of luck.” Nico says as she unlocks the front door with the key Alex gave her a few days ago.

“I actually wanted to talk to you.” She said with a grin.

“Me?” Nico turns around. “Why on earth would you want to talk to me? Your little group hates me.” She says with a scoff.

Molly shrugs. “Well technically I don’t really know you, so my judgement is being withheld. For now at least.”

Nico looks at the girl suspiciously. “Okay… So what can I do for you?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to hangout? Maybe grab some lunch or something.” She says hopefully. 

Molly wanting to hangout with her? Did Karolina put her up to this? But Molly was so sweet and pure last night. Surely she wouldn’t do something like that. Right?

She hesitates, but decides to give her the benefit of the doubt. “Uh sure let me just put my stuff inside and I’ll be right back.”  

When she came back out, Molly was already sitting in the driver's seat of her car. So Nico hopped in and put on her seatbelt. 

Nico turned to Molly, “Are you even old enough to drive this?”

“I’ve had my license for a little bit, soooo yeah.”

“Don’t you need it for 6 months before you can have passengers in the car?” Nico says in a questioning tone. 

Molly rolls her eyes. “Do you want to go get lunch or not?”

“Fine fine. Proceed.” She dramatically tightens her seatbelt. “Just don’t kill me.” 

 

—

 

5 minutes into the car ride, Nico could tell Molly was a very fun and energetic person. Even more so than last night. The fact that she belted all the lyrics to Single Ladies at the top of her lungs with a stranger, well basically a stranger, in the car, was rather telling. Nico aspired to have that level of confidence some day. 

A few minutes later they pulled up to a crowded little diner called Topher’s. It was quite aesthetic with its red booths and checkered tile floor. It was definitely giving her 60’s vibes; especially with the jukebox in the corner. 

They sat at a booth, and a tall tan waiter came over. 

“Molly! How’s it going?” He says with a warm smile.

“Hey Topher!” She stands up and gives him a hug. 

He turns to Nico and glances back to Molly. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Nico.” 

Topher sticks out his hand, and Nico shakes it. “Hi, I’m Topher. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

Nico glances at Molly. “So how do you two know each other?”

“Well Molls and I are actually cousins.” He says as he points to Molly with his thumb over his shoulder. “Plus she’s been comin to the family diner for years.”

“Oh cool. So you own this place?”

“It’s my Dad’s, Topher Senior’s place, but he’s been teaching me the ropes since I was little. I basically run the place, so it probably won’t be too long till he retires and I take over.”

“That’s pretty cool.” 

Nico can understand parents wanting their kids to take over their businesses. Her own parents want her to take over MEBA after college, but she has different plans. Nico doesn’t want anything to do with her parents before, during, or after college.

“Yeah. So what can I get ya to eat?”

“Oh um I haven’t really looked at the menu yet.”

Molly steps in, “I want a cheeseburger.” She looks over to Nico. “Trust me you want one too. They’re to die for.”

Nico looks up to Topher. “I guess I’ll have a cheeseburger too then.”

“Two cheeseburgers coming right up.” He smiles and heads to the kitchen.

“He seems nice.” Nico says with a smile.

“He’s amazing.”

“It’s funny though. You two look more alike than you and Gert do.”

“Oh it’s ‘cause I’m adopted.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. The Yorkes’ took me in when I was just a kid. My parents were in a car accident.”

“Oh. I-I’m sorry.” Nico knows that feeling all too well. She could feel her eyes gloss over. Hopefully Molly didn’t notice.

“It’s ok. It was a long time ago.”

Nico needed to change the subject fast. She didn’t want to make a fool of herself in front of Molly.

“So how did you find Topher?”

“A few years ago Dale and Stacy told me about some relatives I had not too far from here. So I did some research, and found them in this here diner.” She smiles. “They took me in as one of their own as soon as they saw me.”

“Aww that’s sweet.” Nico says with a smile.

Molly just nods and smiles proudly.

After a few moments, Nico breaks the silence. “So what made you want to hangout with me?” She hesitates, “Especially after last night.”

“Well, I wanted to get to know you better, so I can prove to the others that you’re not so bad.”

Nico huffs. “Why are you so confident that I’m not a bad person?” 

“I guess it’s just a gut feeling.”

Nico mumbles. “I don’t think they’re capable of not hating me.”

“Leave that to me.”

“Alrighty Molly, what do you want to know?”

Throughout the meal Nico shared many fun stories from her life thus far. She told Molly about the time she went to Hawaii, the concerts she’d been too, and some of her academic achievements at school.

After they finish eating, Molly looks up at Nico. “So how long do you plan on staying in LA?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Which was true, Nico truly didn’t know how long she was going to be here. “Just till I feel ready to go back home I guess.”

Molly just nods. 

Nico chuckles. “I’ll probably need a job if I stay here much longer. I’m almost out of money.”

Nico has been in LA since the beginning of June. Which was horrible timing since summer is tournament season for basketball, but she can’t help that her parents decided to be assholes. Plus, it was their problem that their star player won’t be there for their first tournament. 

“It shouldn’t be too hard to find a job around here. There are little shops and cafes all over LA. I’m sure you can find something.” 

“Yeah I’ll probably start looking into it soon.”

Right as Molly was about to say something, Topher appears from thin air. 

“Hey I’m sorry to interrupt, but I couldn’t help but overhear that you’re looking for a job.” 

He gestures to the crowded diner, “We could always use more help around here. The diner has been really busy lately, and we could really use some extra hands.” 

“Oh wow that’s so kind of you, but I wouldn’t want you to feel pressured to give me a job.” 

“No, really, we could use the help. The pay isn’t too bad, and we’re pretty flexible when it comes to hours.” He reaches into his apron and pulls out his small notepad. He starts scrawling some numbers on the paper. “Here’s my number. Just shoot me a text if you’re interested or not.” He rips off the paper and hands it to Nico. 

She hesitantly reaches out and grabs the paper, then stuffs it in her pocket. “Thanks. I will.”

And with that he smiled and headed back towards the kitchen.

Molly grabs Nico’s hands. “You should totally work here. This is one of the best diners in LA. It doesn’t get much better than this.”

“Maybe I will.”

And with that they grabbed their things, and headed back to Nico’s house. When they got there Nico turned to Molly before stepping out of the car. “Thanks for lunch. It’s nice to know that not all of you are crazy.” 

Molly smiles. “It’s nice to know that you’re not crazy either. Maybe we could do this again sometime.”

Nico returns the smile. “I’d like that.” 

 

——

 

When Karolina got home from the gym she chucked her bags in her room, and headed to the bathroom. She filled the bathtub up with water, then went to retrieve some ice from the freezer. An ice bath would surely help her recovery process from the workout she did this morning. 

About 5 minutes into her ice bath there’s a knock on the door. 

“Karolina, remember we have team practice tonight at 6 o’clock, don’t be late.” Leslie said with an unnecessary rude tone. 

“K” 

Leslie has turned into a robot lately. She just says the same things over and over again, never giving thought to anything about Karolina’s personal life. She feels like she’s completely lost her mom. At least her dad was there for her.

 

—

 

Karolina rolled up to practice at 5:30 so she had some time to warm up. The rest of her teammates slowly started rolling in. 

Karolina was never one to be late. She lives by the saying, “if you’re not early, you’re late.” Plus the consequences of being late are never good, especially for practices. 

Leslie, aka Ms. Cranky ass bitch according to Gert, showed up a few minutes before 6, and started practice.

The first half of practice they did circuits, and the last half they did shooting drills, then scrimmaged for the remainder of practice. 

Karolina was always the last one to leave the gym. She always stayed after practice to cool down.

As she was cooling down, Leslie approached her. “I noticed you’ve been off your game lately. I feel like you’re slacking off during your morning practices.”

“Quite the opposite actually.” Karolina says as she stands up. “I’ve actually been working my ass off every morning.”

“Well it definitely hasn’t shown during practices lately.”

“I’ve just had some stuff going on lately, okay?” 

Then she mumbles under her breath, “not that’d you’d care.” 

“Well push those troubles aside and focus.” 

Luckily Leslie didn’t hear that last part.

Leslie collects her things and turns to Karolina. “I’m going to practice with you tomorrow morning. We need to get you out of this funk.” 

“Alright.” Karolina knows better than to argue with her mom right now. 

Karolina knew private’s with her mom were always hell, but there was nothing she could do about that. 

They both head to their cars, drive home, and go to their rooms. 

 

—

 

When she got to Giborum the next morning, Karolina realized that Nico would also be there. Part of her doesn’t want her to feel the wrath of Leslie, but then again she was an asshole during game night. 

Nico got there shortly after Karolina and headed to the weight room.

Leslie almost pushed Karolina to her breaking point that morning. Karolina couldn’t remember the last time she worked that hard during a practice. She wasn’t sure if she could ever run again after today. 

“Karolina, lets go to the weight room. You could gain a little muscle in your arms.” Leslie said as she scanned her daughter’s body for more imperfections. 

“Maybe another day mom.”

First of all, how could anybody go lift weights after going through that hard of a practice. And second of all, Nico was in there, and a confrontation with her was not ideal. Especially with her mother. 

“Time is precious. I don’t know when I’ll be able to supervise your workouts again, so you’re going to lift whether you like it or not.” 

“But mo-“

Leslie interrupted her. “No buts. Go stretch, and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

With that, Karolina made her way towards the weight room. This was not going to go well. 

 

—

 

Nico decided to work on arms and abs that morning. She was doing bench presses when she heard the door to the weight room open.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw that it was Karolina. 

“Can I help you with anything?” Nico said as she continued doing bench presses. 

“Ummm…” Karolina hesitated. She knew Nico was athletic, but not this athletic. She normally just saw her from a distance, but wow was she fit. That’s one of the most defined six packs she’d ever seen. 

Nico got up from the bench and started to add more weight to the bar. “Yes?”

“Um I’m coming in here to lift, but I wanted to warn you that my mom is gonna come in here any second.” 

Nico was silent. 

“It might not end well if she sees you in here, so now’s your chance to dip.” 

“Oh uh thanks for the warning.” Nico said nervously. Leslie Dean was just as bad, if not worse, than Karolina. She definitely didn’t want to have a confrontation with her.

“No problem.” Karolina said as she walked towards an empty rack. 

Nico was taking the weights off the bar, when she hears the door open. 

Nico froze.

“Shit”, Nico whispered. 

Things were about to get ugly. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I can get the next chapter out soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any typos and other mistakes. Feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, or critiques! :)


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